I went into the hive yesterday, first to attach screen over the top feeder so I could raise the top cover for ventilation without drowning bees (thanks to suggestions on this forum!), and then to inspect the hive. I inspected a couple of weeks ago and saw eggs, so knew the queen was working ... and today I got a real treat. There was plenty of larvae and capped brood. And I got to watch a couple of brand new bees emerge from their cells. And I found the queen. I also found a small hive beetle hiding in a corner of one of the frames that I was inspecting ... I knocked it out with the hive tool where it landed on top of the frames in the hive .. and a bee immediately jumped on it and did it in. All in all, a very exciting inspection (pics on my blog!).

Now, what to do about the small hive beetle ... I also took out the IPM board in the hive bottom and found perhaps three varroa mites. The board is not a sticky board, just white dry-erase like board. But as I was looking over the bees I was looking for the mites and saw only one. And I looked around a bit and didn't see any other small hive beetles. I'm sure they are, but obviously not in huge quantities ... so, should I take any action yet or just monitor for now?

04-30-2012, 06:33 AM

jim lyon

Re: The Best Inspection Ever! (and a q about mites/beetles)

I wouldn't be too alarmed Brian. Actually disrupting the hives with inspections can make the hive more prone to invasion. BTW are you sure what you saw was a hive beetle? They are pretty much impervious to bee attacks. The best thing you can do is to give them no areas inaccesable to bees where they can lay their eggs as a good hive will quite readily remove the eggs.

04-30-2012, 08:11 AM

Bees4Us

Re: The Best Inspection Ever! (and a q about mites/beetles)

Really nice pics! Thank you for sharing! How neat to be able to capture all of that action :)

05-01-2012, 10:40 AM

StevenG

Re: The Best Inspection Ever! (and a q about mites/beetles)

The best way to deal with the shb is before they become a problem. You've seen one, the odds are you have or will get more. I'd suggest one of the between the frame traps, with perhaps some mineral oil in it. The bees chase the shb into the trap, shb dies. Real easy on you.
Regards,
Steven